Page 6 of Love In The Spotlight

“You’re not going to tell me?” she asked.

“No,” West said. “And your curiosity will keep you from dragging your feet to make contact.”

“I don’t drag my feet that much,” she said. “I’m busy. I’m going to have to rearrange my schedule as it is if I’ve got to travel. You didn’t tell me where this was all taking place.”

“Less than an hour from here. Jamie lives just outside of Union City and we are finalizing contracts for a plant space close by. The only traveling you’ll be doing is through the Lincoln Tunnel.”

“That’s something,” she said.

“See,” West said. “Not all bad news.”

“Nope,” she said. “Six percent is awesome news.”

Her brother laughed. “Deal.”

2

NOT JUST A DUMB JOCK

The following Tuesday, Jamie walked into the Carlisle Building in downtown Manhattan. He’d been here a few times already. West Carlisle even had been to his place twice.

The negotiations weren’t taking too long in his eyes, but they had more things to iron out.

Now that everything was final and legal, it was time to get going on production.

More like staffing to get to production, but West had assured him that would all be taken care of. The forty percent he was bringing to this company was the formula and his name and status in the public and as a parent along with some money.

Not that West needed those things, but he knew it could mutually benefit them both.

“I’ve got a meeting with Laken,” he said to the woman at the front. High security here, but they’d seen him before.

“Right this way,” the woman said. She was eying him like she had every time he’d come in. Most knew who he was even if they didn’t follow football.

His damn reputation as a partier around the city for years when he was younger wouldn’t leave. A stupid shadow on a rainy day glued to his side.

His mother always said he’d regret his behavior. He wasn’t sure regret was the word he’d choose. Something less ominous since that led him to where he was today.

Jamie wouldn’t change a damn thing about his life now and was stunned to say that.

They came to a little sitting area and the woman said, “Just have a seat. Laken will be out in a minute.”

He turned and sat. He knew Laken was West’s younger sister. He’d looked her up online and found very little other than some pictures of her with her brothers or her name in articles as a member of the Carlisle family.

Nothing personal.

Unlike his life.

Though he’d done a damn good job keeping his personal life out of the gossip feeds for almost two years.

Too much at stake in his mind and maybe he should have cut his parents some slack looking back.

“Jamie Wilde?”

He looked up and there was Laken standing there in a black skirt straight to her knees. She had a bright bold silky multi-color shirt tucked into the waist showing how tiny she was.

On her feet were some seriously sexy heels.

Yeah, he had a weakness for them.

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